Archery bows for use in hunting and target practice have been in use for centuries. Typically, such bows have included an elongated body with a bowstring tensioned between its ends and a handle portion intermediate its ends. The handle portion usually defines a bow shelf upon which an arrow is supported during launch from the bow.
Several problems have long been associated with the use of traditional bows and particularly with use of traditional bow shelves to support an arrow. Since the shelf is commonly only an indention formed in the handle portion of the bow, there is usually no means for holding the arrow on the shelf. As a consequence, the bow must be loaded each time it is shot and, if the arrow is not smoothly drawn and released, it can fall from the shelf prior to or during launch. Further, an arrow moving across the surface of the bow shelf tends to encounter friction which can degrade the accuracy, velocity and range of the arrow. In addition, if the arrow nock is not placed on the bow string such that the arrow is precisely aligned with the shelf, the arrow shaft tends to move past the shelf at an angle imparting lateral forces to the arrow and further degrading its accuracy. Finally, the fletching extending outwardly from the rear end portion of the arrow tends to brush the handle portion of the bow or the shelf as the arrow leaves the bow introducing still further uncertainty in the accuracy of the arrow.
Various arrow support devices have been proposed in the past to overcome some of the above discussed problems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,221 of Peck, for example, discloses an arrow rest that mounts to a bow handle portion above the bow shelf and includes a pair of opposed cone shaped rollers between which the arrow is supported and guided during launch. U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,325 of Christen and U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,688 of Paul et al disclose arrow rests in which an arrow is supported vertically during launch atop a substantially vertically oriented roller and laterally by a horizontally oriented roller or pin. Further examples are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,282,850 of Warnicke, 4,372,282 of Sanders and 3,406,675 of Fredrickson.
While the devices disclosed in the above listed patents have been partially successful in improving arrow accuracy, they nevertheless tend to have certain shortcomings of their own. In particular, arrow rests that include a pair of rollers or supports upon which the arrow rests during launch include no means for maintaining the arrow in place on the rollers prior to and during launch so that the bow must still be loaded each time it is shot. Further, if the arrow is not smoothly drawn and released, it can fall from the rollers during launch and, in some instances, can impale an archer's hand adjacent the bow handle. Devices such as that shown in Warnicke which include flexible fins for holding the arrow in place tend to degrade arrow accuracy because of friction introduced to the moving arrow by the fins.
There is, therefore, a perceived need for an improved arrow rest adapted to hold a nocked arrow in ready to launch position prior to launch and guide the arrow accurately from the bow during launch. It is to the provision of such an arrow rest that the present invention is primarily directed.